Ted Belman

Is the US a friend or enemy of Israel?

This question always elicits different opinions. Obviously, in part, the answers depend on one's definition of "friend" or of "enemy."

Grief to EU: Mind your own business

Source: Israpundit Howard Grief writes to European External Action Service Reference Directorate North Africa, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq, Middle East Division

The peace process will be the death of Israel

US Secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, just came to town and warned that Israel is becoming "increasingly isolated" and must restart negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and work to restore relations with Egypt and Turkey. Why? According to Fox News, he said the ongoing upheaval in the Middle East makes it critical for the Israelis to find ways to communicate with other nations in the region in order to have stability.

Propaganda is war by other means

There are those who embrace conspiracy theories of a government plan behind major attacks like 9-11 and Pearl Harbor, to lead us into war. As outlandish such theories appear to some, many embrace them because they believe that the government always manipulates public opinion to accept intended actions which the people would otherwise reject.

The real obstacles to peace

Once again, the US, the UN and the EU criticized Israel for announcing new settlement construction in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) calling such construction “obstacles to peace”. At the same time they ignore the real obstacles to peace. The primary obstacle to peace is and always has been Arab rejection of the Jewish state of Israel or Jews both before and after the state was declared

Israel’s Great Divide

Islam divides the world into the Dar al Harb (the land of war) and Dar al Salaam (the land of peace). In Israel the great divide is between the "Peace" Camp (PC) and "War" Camp (WC). Of course there are many people who are not part of either camp. Let's call them the uncommitted.

“Racists” and “Fascists” and Miscreants

In America, one is called “racist” at the drop of the hat. This epithet is no longer limited to people who discriminate based on race but is used against people who voice any disagreement with leftist PC. If you are against multiculturalism, you are called a racist. If you are against illegal aliens you are a racist. If you are for limiting Muslim immigration, you are a racist. If you want to ban sharia law, you are a racist. If you reject a mosque at Ground Zero, you are a racist, and so on. It is immaterial whether you have good reason for your beliefs. The reason for such name calling is to inhibit you from expressing a contrary opinion. Unfortunately it works.

Israel is Sitting Pretty

Israel is sitting pretty. Sure she has problems, but her future is bright. Even her present is not too shabby. Of immediate concern is the attempt by the PA to gain recognitions and membership in the UN in the upcoming session in September. To this end the PA has agreed with Hamas to unify, thinking it would strengthen their case at the UN. Not so fast. Actually unification is proving more difficult to achieve then implied, due to irreconcilable differences. These differences have more to do with tactics rather than goals, they both want to destroy the Jewish state, and to their unwillingness to share power. So, at last reading, they have decided to postpone concluding an agreement until after September, if ever.

Arab propaganda

The truth is that less then 10 were killed and they were all killed trying to cross the border. They also threw molotov cocktails which burst into flames in a minefield. Some of the mines exploded. The occupation is not illegal. There is no right of return.

Israel kills 24 refugees in occupied Golan Heights By Elham Asaad Buaras, Muslim News Israeli troops opened fire on protesters who stormed the border in the occupied Golan Heights

PM Netanyahu stands by negotiations

In a joint press conference with PM Berlusconi of Italy today, PM Netanyahu said, [..] I also had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of regional and international subjects with Prime Minister Berlusconi. We talked about Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and we agreed that such weapons in the hands of Iran pose not merely a threat to Israel, but a threat to peace in our region and to the peace of the world.

Recognition, Unity Agreements and Negotiations

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been busy lining up countries to recognize Palestine as a state with armistice line borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. It intends to ask the Security Council to vote for such a resolution in September of this year. Should the US veto it, it will then ask the GA to do so. To make the Palestinian’s case stronger, Fatah, Hamas and other terrorist groups have signed a Unity Agreement. Not for the first time, I would add. These agreements give the appearance of unity to obscure their fundamental differences if not on substance at least on tactics. But the main reason they fail is that neither party is prepared to give up their power. The driving force this time behind such agreement is the desire to present a united PA before the UN votes on whether to recognize Palestine..

The repercussions of a UN recognition of Palestine

The PA has been hard at work of late lining up votes in the UNGA for the recognition of the state of Palestine with pre '67 borders with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital. They intend to use the "Uniting for Peace" procedure to avoid a possible UNSC veto regardless of whether the procedure is legal. (See; The UN Charter Cannot Support GA Resolution 377). Were they to get such recognition the repercussions would be significant.

You Won’t Believe Your Eyes

An amazing, heartwarming story of triumph of the human spirit in Haiti, and of hope for the handicapped, everywhere. On January 12, 2010, the earthquake that devastated Haiti left George, a professional dancer, with an amputated leg, and severe injuries in his remaining one. Now it seemed that his career was over, and that his life would never be the same. But then George met with the Israeli experts operating a rehabilitation project in post-quake Haiti.

Canada’s Big Mistake

Canada barred Dr. Srdja Trifkovic from entering Canada last week to speak at the University of British Columbia after being invited by the Serbian Students Association. Trifkovic is a hero to Serbs because he was a staunch supporter in their fight against NATO and the Muslims in Kosovo. This is all the more surprising because Canada’s Maj Gen General Lewis Mackenzie has long said “We Bombed The Wrong Side – Kosovo’s Independence Immoral”. Here is a video interview that was done three years ago.

The settlements are neither, “illegitimate’ nor “illegal”

Secretary Clinton delivered a speech at the Brookings Institute in December 2010 in which she said, "We do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity." In her recent interview with Christine Amanpour, she said, "I think it is absolutely clear to say, number one, that it's been American policy for many years that settlements were illegitimate”.

“The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men.”

From all my reading and observations about the Egyptian crisis, I note that the US, EU and Canada are now all on the same page and are reading from the same script. Here’s how the Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, put it;

Jimmy Carter is sued for lying about Israel

I met Nitsana Darsha-Leitner in Toronto almost 10 years ago. She was just out of law school and had come to talk about her pioneering lawsuits on behalf of victims of terror. She just sent me a press release, which is below, announcing her latest lawsuit in which she is suing Jimmy Carter et al for violating NY commerce law by publishing lies. She has fashioned the suit as a class action on behalf of all those who bought the book and were thus harmed. This is no small matter.

For liberals, its the principle not the consequence that matters

Liberals are generally of the mind that peace or democracy are good things so must be supported or sought after. They start with the assumption that they are both achievable and that what will be achieved, is better than the oppression that exists. After all, what better than rule by the people. Such assumption has no basis in reality, at least in the ME.

America’s Word Is Worthless

While most eyes are on Mubarak, they should be on Obama. By supporting the rioters and even supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama is knifing two long time allies, Egypt and Israel, in the back. He is also underming the US. Who will ever trust the word of the US in the future. America will rightly be seen as an untrustworthy ally. Goodbye South Korea. Goodbye Formosa.

Alan Baker and the Government of Israel concede too much

Alan Baker, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is former Legal Adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry and former Israel Ambassador to Canada. He recently wrote an excellent article on The Settlements Issue: Distorting the Geneva Convention and the Oslo Accords which is a must read. But for me it opened up a can of worms.